Category: Family and Friends

In the year of the Bee – trained honey bees reveal land mines. Can you believe that bees can be trained? I think that is really interesting. Even more so than how interesting it is, think about the spiritual aspects. We know we are in the Hebrew year 5774, and one of the images that depict this year is that of the honeybee. Wow can you believe God is talking to us about land mines and honeybees. What could that mean? Today while watching Glory of Zion’s live webcast, the teacher Robert Heidler spoke about we need to be aware that our enemy wants to take us out but God is warning us and will make a way to avoid the land that the enemy has placed in our path to take us out. Think about the symbolism: land mines (destruction) honeybees trained to expose the land mines (it’s like inside information). One of the other words that describe this year prophetically is that of a door or path. (our day to day life).

The bible tells that we should be able to read the signs of the times. It would be hard not to the get message when we take the time to look at it.

Lord I want to see the land mines the enemy has placed on my path. Reveal anything hidden in me, around me or any mindsets that would cause me to get caught in a land mine. Open my ears to hear you and sense your voice. In Jesus name, AMEN!

Recently I saw an advertisment for DNA testing for 99.00. I was completely amazed, could this really be done for 99.00? I thought is this a hoax or does it just tell you blah, blah, blah, informtaion that means nothing? Could it as it boasted reveal areas of which you were suceptible. Genetic areas in which you could begin to do preventive measures in order to possibly avoid certain dieases and maybe even prolong your life.

I sent of an email to my daughter who is a scientist. Yes, she answered it can be done but with it comes ethical questions that may lead to “health Insurance” interferrance. This “new” easily obtained DNA testing could mean interesting things she said for the future of privacy and governement. Then I find this article.

You can ditch your computer and leave your cellphone at home, but you can’t escape your DNA. It belongs uniquely to you – and, increasingly, to the authorities. Countries around the world are collecting genetic material from millions of citizens in the name of fighting crime and terrorism – and, according to critics, heading into uncharted ethical terrain.

Leaders include the United States – where the Supreme Court recently backed the collection of DNA swabs from suspects on arrest – and Britain, where police held samples of almost 7 million people, more than 10 percent of the population, until a court-ordered about-face saw the incineration of a chunk of the database.

The expanding trove of DNA in official hands has alarmed privacy campaigners, and some scientists. Recent leaks about U.S. surveillance programs by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden have made people realize their online information and electronic communications may not be as secure as they thought.

Could the same be true of the information we hold within our genes? DNA samples that can help solve robberies and murders could also, in theory, be used to track down our relatives, scan us for susceptibility to disease, or monitor our movements.

Earlier this year Yaniv Erlich, who runs a lab at MIT’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, published a paper in the journal Science describing how he was able to identify individuals, and their families, from anonymous DNA data in a research project.

All it took was a computer algorithm, a genetic genealogy website and searches of publicly available Internet records.

“It was a very weird feeling – a ‘wow’ feeling,” Erlich told The Associated Press. “I had to take a walk outside just to think about this process.”

Erlich says DNA databases have enormous positive power, both for fighting crime and in scientific research. But, he said, “our work shows there are privacy limitations.”

Ethical qualms have done little to stop the growth of genetic databases around the world.

The international police agency Interpol listed 54 nations with national police DNA databases in 2009, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany and China.

Brazil and India have since announced plans to join the club, and the United Arab Emirates intends to build the world’s first database of an entire national population.

The biggest database is in the United States – the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, which holds information on more than 11 million people suspected of or convicted of crimes.

It is set to grow following a May Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right of police forces to take DNA swabs without a warrant from people who are arrested, not just those who are convicted. (Policies on DNA collection vary by state; more than half of the states and the federal government currently take DNA swabs after arrests.)

The court’s justices were divided about implications for individuals’ rights.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, for the five-judge majority, called the taking of DNA a legitimate and reasonable police booking procedure akin to fingerprinting.

But dissenting Justice Antonin Scalia argued that it marked a major change in police powers. “Because of today’s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason,” he said.

A similar note of caution has been struck by Alec Jeffreys, the British geneticist whose 1984 discovery of DNA fingerprinting revolutionized criminal investigations.

He has warned that “mission creep” could see authorities use DNA to accumulate information on people’s racial origins, medical history and psychological profile.

Erlich agreed that scenario was possible, if not likely.

“If it’s not regulated and the police can do whatever they want … they can use your DNA to infer things about your health, your ancestry, whether your kids are your kids,” he said.

Police forces have already tracked down criminals through the DNA of their innocent relatives, a practice that is both a goldmine for investigators and, according to skeptics, an ethical minefield.

Charles Tumosa, a clinical assistant professor in forensic studies at the University of Baltimore who is wary of the potential for genetic surveillance, says relatives of suspects could be identified through DNA and leaned on for information about their family members.

And yet familial DNA searches have helped solve terrible crimes. In Britain, a sex attacker known as the “shoe rapist” was caught after 20 years through DNA from his sister, who was in the database due to a drunken-driving arrest.

In Kansas in 2005, police identified Dennis Rader as a serial killer known as “BTK” through his daughter’s DNA obtained, without her knowledge, from a pap smear in her medical records.

“There’s got to be a debate,” said Tumosa. “Nobody has talked this out.

“At what point do you say, enough is enough? Do we want to have a society where 5 percent of the crime is unsolved, or do we want to have a society where 100 percent of the crime is solved” but privacy is compromised. “What’s the trade-off?”

Both supporters and critics of DNA databases point to Britain, where until recently, police could take the DNA of anyone 10 or older arrested for even the most minor offense – and keep it forever, even if the suspect was later acquitted or released without charge.

Police say the database has helped solve thousands of crimes, including murders and rapes.

On the other side of the coin are hundreds of thousands of innocent people, including children, who feel shamed and tainted by inclusion on a database of criminal suspects – a status some legal experts say undermines the presumption of innocence.

“A lot of British people were very shocked to find themselves or their children ending up on the database for minor alleged offenses such as throwing a snowball at a car,” said Helen Wallace, director of the privacy group GeneWatch, which campaigns for restrictions on collection of DNA and other personal information.

After a long legal battle – waged in part by a youth who was arrested at 11 on suspicion of attempted robbery and had his DNA retained despite being acquitted – the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2008 that Britain’s “blanket and indiscriminate” storage of DNA violated the right to a private life.

The U.K. was forced to trim its huge database. Under a law passed last year known as the Protection of Freedoms Act, the government is destroying the DNA profiles – strings of numbers derived from DNA samples that are used to identify individuals – of a million people who were arrested for minor offenses but not convicted.

People acquitted of serious crimes have their DNA profiles kept for up to five years.

Britain also has incinerated more than 6 million physical DNA samples – mostly swabs of saliva – taken from suspects. Samples, which could previously be kept indefinitely, must now be destroyed after six months.

Destroying the samples is seen as key to limiting DNA databases to crime-fighting rather than snooping, because it means stored DNA cannot be used to trace relatives or susceptibility to disease.

The U.K. government says the curbs have restored a sense of proportion to Britain’s database, but some aspects of the country’s genetic monitoring remain murky.

The U.K. DNA ethics watchdog has expressed concerns about a secret counterterrorism database, which, according to the Metropolitan Police Authority, contains “DNA obtained through searches, crime scenes and arrests in relation to counterterrorism” – including samples from people stopped and questioned at ports and borders, even if they are not arrested.

The Home Office, which oversees police and the DNA database, said there was a “robust regulatory framework” for the counterterrorism database. But it would not disclose how large it is, who has access to it or whether the information is shared with other countries.

Some authorities on DNA say fears of genetic intrusion are misplaced.

Chris Asplen, a former assistant U.S. attorney who now heads the Global Alliance for Rapid DNA Testing, argues that DNA is not dramatically different from other information the authorities already hold about millions of people, such as fingerprints, social security numbers or automobile registrations.

But he does see avenues for abuse.

“There is an argument to be made that because that biological sample exists, the government could go back and do other things with it that are not authorized by the law,” he said.

Dean and I love cruising thrift stores. Every city we hang out in we make sure to visit all of them we can. One of my hunts is for books… I found some good books the other day. So today I thought I’d look through my treasures. I got a surprise when I opened one of the books. The book was about becoming your “higher” self it did not occur to me it was a book I should not own or entertain until I started reading the first few pages… started out something like “Written by ___ channel for ___” I looked and looked again and said out loud oops.

Life happens to all of us, we make mistakes and get involved with stuff that we shouldn’t. Robert Heidler says its okay “We can repent”. I want to encourage you that when we make mistakes we should take the time to fix it. The time to deal with it is when we realize or have that oops moment. I told Dean hey I got myself a book I should not have, and said Lord to the Lord, forgive me. I ripped up the book, I didn’t want anyone else to get it either. Put it outside in the trash, washed my hands and asked Holy Spirit to wash me. I also pled the blood of Jesus over myself and our camper. Then I moved onto another book to get some good reading done.

Moving on from mistakes is that easy do what you have to do. Repent and move on!

At my last work assignment this email went around. I believe it was generated from, Wade G. Steckel, however I am not completely certain as I said it was an email sent to me from someone else. So if I have missed the author I apologize and will correct the error if it’s pointed out.

Every once in while it’s nice to be reminded of this important part of who we are. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

“When I was a basketball coach, and even now as an official I often comment how certain players have tremendous potential. At work I meet associates whom I see as having tremendous potential. Sometimes we call it an “upside”. Heck, I have 7 of them on my very own team! But what does it mean to have that “potential”?

Potential is that strength in us that is unused. It is the talent in us that is hidden and not exposed yet. It is untapped abilities. It is talents that still lay dormant. It is those capabilities in us that we unknowingly have capped off. Do you realize the wealth of potential that you have been blessed with? Why would you want to deprive this world of those blessings, those gifts that are inside of you? That potential still in you is what you were put here for, to use it. It is your purpose!

Do not be one of the over 5 billion people of this world who never maximize the full potential that was placed within them. Do not settle for a mediocre life. Realize that you have it and work extra hard to express it, to use it, to cultivate it, to share it. Guard it from laziness and contentment and distraction and compromise. We have been given a powerful, wonderful gift and He would expect you to use it! We call it UP side for one reason, it came from above, so don’t squander it!”

It is difficult not to become legalistic and religious, but what measure or self examination do you hold yourself to? I heard Peter Wagner speak about his daily routine in prayer, He asks the Lord if he has sinned in anyway, if so he repents for it, he also asks the Lord to help him the three sins he feels that he is most likely to commit. I was really impressed as I began to think about the areas in which I struggle. What others deal with are not always issues for me, but my areas I seem to get caught in over and over. I so appreciated his honesty to say hey these areas I struggle to not commit sin. So I guard those areas and I pray about them daily. This idea reminds of the scripture “and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Ephesians 4:27). Again what measure or self examination do you hold yourself to?

These are John Wesley’s self-examination questions. Some of them stemmed from his days with the Holy Club, but many of them developed over the years of his traveling ministry. As you can see, sometimes the better answer is yes and sometimes no. Some require a fuller answer. All of them are challenging. Wesley himself often spoke of his own failure to keep all aspects of the plan outlined in the questions.

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite? 2. Do I confidentially pass on to others what has been said to me in confidence? 3. Can I be trusted? 4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits? 5. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying? 6. Did the Bible live in me today? 7. Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day? 8. Am I enjoying prayer? 9. When did I last speak to someone else of my faith? [ conversation starter questions ] 10. Do I pray about the money I spend? 11. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time? 12. Do I disobey God in anything? 13. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy? 14. Am I defeated in any part of my life? 15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful? 16. How do I spend my spare time? 17. Am I proud? 18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican? 19. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it? 20. Do I grumble or complain constantly? 21. Is Christ real to me?

Today is my granddaughter Kallun’s birthday. As I think about her life and how much I wish I was with her to celebrate it I continue to mull over in my mind an article I read a week or so ago.

An essay on CNN iReport, “Why I Raise My Children Without God,” This article posted on the CNN website caught my attention. This article is a clear in your face statement “I have chosen my way and I dare you to suggest I should live otherwise.” If you read the article it is clear she is angry and thinks that we should be able to explain God and He should act on what we see. This article caused me to think about what others see and hear when they see and hear our message. The next day I was sadden even further when this article climbed toward the top of the list of news. This article sparked another article headline read, “Godless mom hits chord with parents” (January 18th) “Mitchell, a mother of two teenagers in Texas who feels “immersed in Christianity,” started a blog about raising her children without religion because she felt frustrated and marginalized. She didn’t want to feel so alone, she says.

Mitchell gained a whole new audience and the reassurance that she’s not alone. Her essay on CNN iReport, “Why I Raise My Children Without God,” drew 650,000 page views, the second highest for an iReport, and the most comments of any submission on the citizen. I wondered why does she care if she is alone I thought that was her choice or outcome of her decision to live without God. The result of the article was shocking it drew the second highest page views for iReports history.

Mitchell’s blog and article are indicators of our society a line that has been hazy in the past is now being drawn in bold strokes. A huge push to move away from God, Godly principles, and morality is overtaking our country and world.

Another indicator television is on a quest for supernatural power programs casing programs of evil. This fascination with power has a draw in which these programs are suggesting that we can use evil and make it good.

There are so many sad parts of this, first the quest for power is in all of us. Yet I wonder why the fascination with power is so prevalent?

One, I believe at the very core is our need to experience supernatural power. I think this was created when God placed Adam and Eve on the earth. I also believe we have the ability to live and move in this power.

Two, supernatural power or the power of God should be something that is evident and active. We as Christians have failed to pursue or move in that power. The enemy once again is trying to fill that hunger that is within us.

Three, this huge wave suggests to me that as evil arises, it is a sign that God also has plans to release new measures of power. What can the enemy do to compete with the power of God? He can release his own version, He desensitize us to supernatural power are two things that could be done.

As the time passes by we will continue to see evil rise, our choice will be what side of line we are on and how much power will we choose to live in?

Last night I watched on food network Bobby Flay’s new program in which he arrives at a couple’s home to have dinner. Three couples compete to be the best home cook of that particular city. Each couple has to serve three courses with a theme. Last night the theme was Speakeasy.

This morning while reading my email and thinking about writing a couple of blog entries I came across an article or service named Speakeasy. This service is for Christian writers and bloggers. When I start to see the same thing in different places I begin to think okay what is happening? What needs to be said?

I am not so sure speakeasy is really what needs to happen, but I understand the concept I think Speak truth would be a better title.

According to Wikipedia, A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. They began back during prohibition.

I think we need to proclaim what we are talking about not behind closed doors, or hiding out suggesting what we are doing is not right. Or worse yet discuss only among ourselves what we believe or sense. Christianity has not done a good of getting our messages out. For that matter what is our message? What is your message? This has been brought home to me this year as I have reentered the secular work force.

Learning that the “Christian ease” that I didn’t know was so engrained in me, made it difficult to express what I believe and why. To those who have no experience or understanding of doctrine, denominational differences, or what I would “think” would be the basics.

During the year I made some new friends, one was a drug dealer , a very strict Catholic, one who is mad at God because her mother died, another who is a new age practitioner and last but not least one who married into and divorced out of a Pentecostal family. Each of them are delightful people who would extend their hand should I ever need anything. My goal is not to make them into me it’s more about sharing and living truth. I don’t have answers for those who don’t have questions.

I have begun some soul searching, how relevant is what I believe? How can I explain what I believe and why in a way that those who don’t have my experiences, teaching and beliefs would understand? The only way I have found so far is how I live. How I live is so much more important than what I say. This belief or way of speaking has served me well. It does not take long and new friends recognize I am different. One of my favorite quotes in my words goes something like this “Preach the gospel at all time only when necessary use words.”

Just some things to think about – No that’s all we’ve been doing is thinking? So how am I going to change how I talk so those who don’t live in my world can connect with me or I can connect with them? That is the question I am working to answer in my life.

We have a new DVD that has just been released. It is an interview that I did with Janet Sudduth back in 2005. It is one my favorites and I beleive you will really enjoy it. I also created a companion booklet that I just had published. Somehow one picture turned out big and other small but both the DVD and booklet are great! If you or someone you know is struggling with forgiveness let them know about this resource.

You can find both of these items on our website or on Amazon.com The DVD will be available on amazon video for download or stream if you would prefer. ENJOY!!

We have a new DVD that has just been released. It is an interview that I did with Janet Sudduth back in 2005. It is one my favorites and I beleive you will really enjoy it. I also created a companion booklet that I just had published. Somehow one picture turned out big and other small but both the DVD and booklet are great! If you or someone you know is struggling with forgiveness let them know about this resource.

You can find both of these items on our website or on Amazon.com The DVD will be available on amazon video for download or stream if you would prefer. ENJOY!!

We have a new DVD that has just been released. It is an interview that I did with Janet Sudduth back in 2005. It is one my favorites and I beleive you will really enjoy it. I also created a companion booklet that I just had published. Somehow one picture turned out big and other small but both the DVD and booklet are great! If you or someone you know is struggling with forgiveness let them know about this resource.

You can find both of these items on our website or on Amazon.com The DVD will be available on amazon video for download or stream if you would prefer. ENJOY!!